Wednesday, September 26, 2012

I'm having a problem with R. Paul Martin, the current moderator of the WBAI Radio Listeners' Forum (aka the Blue Board). After preventing me from exercising my free speech on that board, Martin has attempted to portray me as a troll and disruptor, in order, presumably, to justify his actions.

Nothing could be further from the truth! I have not been there to attack or disrupt, but to provide counterpoint to a disruptor who launches almost daily attacks on WBAI and in particular on one of its producers. Now let me say that even if you disagree with my assessment, that is still no reason to keep me from speaking my mind.

Ironically, Martin said the following on his own radio show, just prior to banning me:

"Some greasy fried chicken franchise owner has this biblical crap going on about who can get married, so there's this big flap about all of that. People say: "Oh, he has free speech rights!" Of course he does. He gets to say his anti-gay c*** and people get to counter with their free speech too. I mean, the remedy for free speech that you don't like is more free speech. Say something about it. Say: "Well I disagree, and this guy is a nincompoop", and all those wonderful things that we can all say about each other."

Ever since he took over moderation of the board, Mr. Martin has been a man on a mission: to rid the board of the "bad guys" that are causing all the "disruption". Well that's all well and good, but instead of being objective as a moderator should be, he has allowed his personal pet peeves and private motivations to dictate who the bad guys are.

Mr. Martin has an agenda which is not totally clear at this point, but the result is that he has been protecting the free speech of the main offender on that message board, and demonizing those who oppose that or offer a counterpoint. More on that later, when I'll flesh out the details, but for now I am posting his latest communique on the board, along with my reply, which will surely be taken down if it even manages to make it through his filters. In his eagerness to "clean up" the Blue Board, Martin has constructed an elaborate set of word filters that must surely rival Pakistan's list of taboo words, making each post to that message board now a hit or miss affair.

Again, I don't completely understand what Mr. Martin's agenda is, but I think it may have something to do with viewing the producer that has been routinely unfairly attacked and insulted there as a competitor rather than a colleague. If that's true, it's sad and rather ugly. But more on that later as we get more clarity...

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Unemployment insurance is running out for Andrea Sears of Left Voices, former WBAI/Pacifica News Editor, who was part of the WBAI staff layoffs last August. Despite some promising interviews, Andrea does not have a job yet, and would really appreciate your support.